Breaker strip construction



Sept. 23, 1969 M. F. HARTY, JR

BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 15, 1967 FIG 2 O 2 2 4 2 I 2 5 6O 6 4 56 2 5 4 8 8 M 3 5 9 5 6 3 4 3 2 3 0 2 FIG 2 R J R Y mT 2 VH HE RO M L H F M ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 220-9 4 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A breaker strip for foamed insulated freezerand refrigerator cabinets characterized 'by being formed of a pliablematerial such as a vinyl and secured along only one of its sides to thecabinet. The breaker strip includes a short flap forming substantiallyits entire exposed surface and hiding the fasteners fixing the strip tothe cabinet. Additionally, the forward edges of the cabinet are soformed as to provide an open sided channel just behind the breaker stripfor various circuitry employed in connection with the unit which channelis closed by the breaker strip and immediately accessable withoutremoving the breaker strip when the unsecured side of the latter issimply flexed away from the channel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Customary freezer and refrigerator cabinetsbasically consist of an outer metal shell and an inner liner, often alsoof metal, spaced therefrom. The front edges of the shell and liner mustnecessarily be non-contiguous in order to provide a thermal barrier. Inthe past, when cork or glass wool types of insulation were used, thewall thickness of the cabinets was necessarily relatively large in orderto afford space for suflicient insulation. The breaker strips employedwere also quite extensive because, in an effort to prevent a thick,blunt appearance of the forward faces of the cabinet, the front edges ofthe liner were terminated well to the rear of the front edges of theshell. Accordingly, the breaker strips had to be quite wide in order toclose the resulting substantial gap. Furthermore, the large width of thebreaker strip demanded that it be constructed of relatively rigidmaterial, typically a suitable plastic, and that, as is well known,produced many problems of installation, removal and break-age,particularly when it was necessary to reach the cabinet heaters andother circuits usually disposed therebehind or to remove the lineritself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Nowadays, with the advent of foamed typeinsulations, a much thinner cabinet wall is possible because of the muchgreater insulating properties of the foam. Accordingly, it is no longernecessary to terminate the front edges of the cabinet liner so far tothe rear of the front edges of the shell and the breaker strip can thusalso be much narrower. The present invention takes advantage of thisfact by forming the breaker strip of a relatively pliable material,which avoids the breakage problem, and at the same time securing thebreaker strip in a manner which permits access to the cabinet heatersand other circuits therebehind without requiring the breaker strip to befirst removed. For this purpose, the front edges of the outer cabinetshell are reversely bent at several places to provide a hollow, U-shapedchannel whose open side faces the inner liner and which provides aconduit for the various components. The ends of the shell and the linerspacedly overlap and sandwich one side of the pliable breaker stripwhich is formed of a suitable vinyl material. The latter is secured bypush type pins through the overlapping edges of the shell, liner andbreaker "ice strip. The remainder of the strip closes the U-shapedchannel and resiliently abuts the opposite channel edge, thus permittingready access to the interior of the channel without need to remove thestrip and without fear of breakage or other difficulty. A flap portionformed integrally with the breaker strip hides the push pins and forms asmoothly rounded corner at the inner front edge of the cabinet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a three-quarter isometricview of a typical freezer-refrigerator of the side-by-side type.

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal sectional view along the line 22 of FIGURE 1through a front corner of the unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The freezer-refrigeratorcabinet, generally denominated by the reference numeral 10, compriseshorizontally adjacent freezer and refrigerator sections 12 and 14,respectively, closed by doors 16 and 17 which are equipped with typicalshelving 18 molded into their inner liners 19 (see FIGURE 2). Thecabinet 10 also includes an outer metal shell 20 and a spaced, innermetal liner 22, that for the freezer compartment 12 being partiallyillustrated in FIGURE 2, and the spacing between shell 20 and liner 22is filled with suitable foamed insulation 24. The front edge portion ofshell 20 is bent laterally at 26 at a right angle toward liner 22, inorder to provide a partial front Wall 28 of the cabinet 10 upon whichthe gasket assembly 29 of door 16 seats, and is then folded reverselyupon itself at 30. About one-half way toward the side wall of shell 20the edge portion is bent again at a right angle at 32 so that it extendsrearwardly a short distance. Finally, it is bent still again at a rightangle at 34 so that it extends both parallel to face 28 and beyond thefold 30 laterally toward liner 22, terminating just short thereof. AU-shaped channel 36 is accordingly formed having an extended rear leg 38and a shorter forward leg 39. Finally, liner 22 is carried just forwardof leg 38 and bent inwardly toward shell 20 at a right angle at 40 toprovide a leg 42 which spacedly overlaps the outer portion of leg 38.

The breaker strip 50 is molded integrally from a suitable polyvinylchloride and includes a lateral anchor portion 52 sandwiched between theoverlapping legs 38 and 42 of the shell and liner, respectively, towhich it is secured by suitable plastic push pins 54 therethrough. Itwill be understood, of course, that the breaker strip 50 and pins 54 aresecured in place before cabinet 10 is foamed. The body portion 56 ofbreaker strip 50 is forwardly disposed at right angles to the anchorportion 52 and closes the open side of channel 36, the forward end ofbody portion 56 terminating flush with the cabinet face 28 and having alateral car 58 fitting about the folded edge 30 and partially along therear of front wall 28. The remainder of the breaker strip 50 comprises aflap 60 which emerges laterally from the forward end of the body portion56 opposite ear 58 and then convexly curves rearwardly, terminating in afree, unsecured end 62 just short of the bend 40 in liner 22. The innercorner of the front of cabinet 10 is therefore rounded off by flap 60which also hides the pins 54. At the same time, the free, unsecured end62 permits the body portion 56 to be flexed away from the folded edge 30for access to the channel 36 through which may be routed variouselectrical and other circuits (not shown), especially those for thecabinet heaters. Thus it is not necessary to remove the breaker stripfor installation or service of these components and problems ofinstallation and breakage of the strip are accordingly eliminated. Itwill be understood, of course, that the same construction is employedfor the other three sides of the freezer compartment 12 and the foursides of the refrigerator compartment 14.

While the invention has been described in terms of a particularembodiment, being the best mode known of carrying it out, it is not solimited.

Iclaim:

1. In a refrigerated cabinet having an access opening, said cabinetincluding an outer shell and a liner inside said shell separted fromeach other by thermal insulating material, said shell and liner havingoverlapping terminal edge portions closely adjacent said access openingand spaced from each other in order to provide a thermal barriertherebetween, the improvement comprising: a channel having a pair ofchannel legs formed about said cabinet access opening and integrallywith one of said shell and liner closely adjacent said terminal edgeportion thereof, a first one of said channel legs and one of saidterminal edge portions defining an access opening to said channel; and aflexible, elongated breaker strip having a cross section a body portionclosing said channel access opening, said body portion having integralanchor portions adjacent its two side edges a first one of said anchorportions unattachedly abutting the inner face of the free end of saidfirst channel leg and the second one of said anchor portions abuttingthe inner face of the second one of said channel legs and permanentlyattached thereto by securing means extending between said terminal edgeportions with the space therebetween being closed by said second anchorportion whereby said body portion may be flexed away from said firstchannel leg for access to the interior of said channel.

2. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein said breaker strip includes a flexibleflap portion integrally formed with a side edge of and overlying saidbody portion and hiding the same and said securing means from view, theother edge of said flap portion being free and disposed in closeproximity to said one of said terminal edge portions said flap portionforming the exposed inner corner of said cabinet access opening.

3. The cabinet of claim 1 including a front wall of said cabinetextending transversely of the respective planes of the adjacent walls ofsaid shell and liner and marginally about said cabinet access opening,said channel being formed in said shell and having said channel accessopening facing said liner plane, said cabinet front wall forming saidfirst channel leg and extending partially toward said liner plane, saidsecond channel leg being disposed rearward of said first channel leg andextending closely adjacent said liner wall and terminating at saidterminal edge portion of said shell, said terminal edge portion of saidliner including a transverse leg portion disposed rearward of said firstchannel leg but forward of and in spaced overlapping relation to saidsecond channel leg and said terminal edge portion of said shell.

4. The cabinet of claim 3 wherein said first anchor portion includes anear engaging the inner face of said first channel leg, said secondanchor portion being disposed transversely of said body portion andbetween the overlapping portions of said liner leg portion and saidsecond channel leg, and wherein said breaker strip includes a flexibleflap portion overlying said body portion and hiding the same and saidsecuring means from view, said flap portion being convexly rounded incross section and having one end thereof integrally formed with saidbody portion and first anchor portion and flush with said cabinet frontwall, the other end of said flap portion being free and disposed closelyadjacent the juncture of said liner leg portion and said liner wall,said flap portion forming the inner exposed corner of said cabinetaccess opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,801,564 4/1931 Mufiiy 220-92,527,932 10/ 1950 Iwashita 220-9 2,811,936 11/1957 Foley.

2,845,320 7/ 1958 Saunders et al. 312214 X 3,142,405 7/ 1964 Johnson2209 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner J. R. GARRETT, AssistantExaminer

